Scorched Sand
by Shukaku's Host
Summary: I wonder what happens when four elite ninja enter the world of benders...
1. Zuko 1

I own neither Naruto or Avatar: Last Airbender. I wish I owned a certain redhead, but he's Masashi's...darn him.

Zuko came searching for his uncle, only to find out that there was someone else with him. Night had set over the forest just outside a nearby village. It was small and insignificant, but they had stopped for supplies. "Who is this?" Zuko asked. He eyed the boy standing before him. Some bulky "thing" was tied to the newcomer's back. He had blood-red hair, and through the veil, he saw thick rings of charcoal around his eyes. Twin cyan spheres glared up from just behind the black rings. "Is he a Fire Nation spy, Uncle?" Zuko glanced towards Iroh.

"I don't know. First saw a glimpse of him in a tree above us. Saw him a second time on a roof in town and thought he was following us. Just to make sure, I took a little walk in the woods. He might not be from the Fire Nation, but he sure is strange." The redhead did not speak, only stand with crossed arms and glare up at the men, particularly Prince Zuko.

"Who are you?" Zuko asked the boy.

"What's he doing here, Uncle?" Zuko demanded after no other response came.

"I want to kill you," Gaara said stoically. His growl of a voice sounded quite abnormal to Zuko, but that was the least of his annoyances.

"What? How dare you?" Zuko burst out. "I am the Prince of the Fire Nation. You can't imagine the power I have!"

"Now, now, calm down, Zuko. I'm sure that isn't his purpose," Iroh said, trying to appease his fuming nephew.

"You say you have power? Let me show you mine. Let me feel…alive!" He thrust an arm forward and sand came swirling from the tan container on the boy's back. It almost completely engulfed the two firebenders, but Iroh used fire to blast an opening through a thinner layer of sand that had not yet completely solidified. The two escaped the first attack, but looked back only to see the grains returning to their owner. The boy had his head in his hands and clenched teeth, grunting in pain.

"Why, why can't I kill them?" Zuko let his guard down slightly, and gazed at the boy in curiosity. Who was he talking to?

"I thought you had me follow them…to see if they…were worth killing. You want blood…of the Fire Nation's royal family…Where? I will kill him!" Zuko and his uncle still had their backs against trees, but were mildly less startled by the redhead's sudden outburst declaring he would kill them.

"What's wrong with him?" Zuko questioned his uncle. His uncle shrugged, while the boy continued to mutter inaudibly.

"I don't know, but I suggest we keep our distance. The boy's a loon." Zuko chanced a glance at the deranged sandbender. He looked angry, but then again, he seemed angry before. "I found out a bit about him before you came though. He says he's from the Wind country–" Iroh was interrupted.

"He's an airbender! Though, I thought he would look older, he _must_ be the avatar."

"He's a clueless kid that knows nothing about bending. You haven't even seen him airbend, so you have nothing to prove he is an airbender."

"Then I will fight him and force him to airbend, and then we'll have proof." The prince launched a fireball from his fist at the sandbender. Sand blocked the fire and extinguished it. "Huh?" Surprised by the sudden appearance of more sand that seemed to form from pure air, he took a step back, but he soon recovered his small startle. Regaining his senses, he hurled a few more handfuls of fire, before charging directly at the boy. Gaara merely stood there, not moving a muscle as his sand protected him.

"What is with this sand?" Zuko roared as he continued to punch and kick, coming in contact with only more grains of sand, never touching his target.

"Stop attacking him, Zuko. You no nothing about him, other than what I have told you and he has recalled his sand," Iroh stated calmly.

"Can you only use fire to attack? Shinobi here are weak," said the redhead.

"I'm going to kill you for that! No one calls me weak!"

"I just did." Zuko turned his back on the boy.

"Do you hear that, Uncle?" he demanded, pointing a finger behind his back at the boy. "He insults me! He insults our blood!" Zuko roared. "I am the person who will defeat the avatar! He knows nothing of what he has done by offending me!"

"Calm yourself, Prince Zuko. He will concern you no more. Just forget this strange meeting, okay?"

"How can you say that? I can't calm after a weird kid shows up in foreign clothes that happens to be from the Wind Country and attacks us! He must be the avatar. He–"

"He is gone, and you should just forget you ever saw him, okay? Let's just go back to the ship," Iroh said.

Zuko searched recklessly all over the place. The avatar was gone, GONE! "Where- when did?" he stammered.

Iroh sighed, and walked away, expecting Zuko _not_ to follow. As Iroh anticipated, Zuko stayed behind to find who he believed to be the avatar.

XxX*XxX

"He was the avatar, and I lost him! Now I have to find him again, after he came to me!" Zuko yelled to himself.

"Who is this avatar you speak of? You haven't yet explained to me what an airbender is either," Gaara's low voice said.

"Show yourself!" shouted Zuko, twisting his head frantically in all directions, looking for the source of the sound.

"I'm not hidden; you're just too pathetic to look up." Gaara was standing on a branch several feet above Zuko's head. Not only that, but he was upside-down. Zuko didn't understand how such a feat was possible.

"How do you do that?" Zuko asked in wonder, looking straight up, wide-eyed, or rather, with one wide eye. Gaara walked down the trunk of the tree, Zuko's gaze following every step.

"Will you explain this terrain to me, tell me about the avatar, and describe what an airbender is if I attempt to depict my way and not kill you?" Zuko tried to ignore that last part and nodded. He didn't know how someone that could stand upside-down on a tree branch wouldn't know about bending.

"Fine, the benders are the ones who have control over one element. The four elements are water, earth, fire and air. They are considered masters once they have complete and perfect control over their element. Firebenders like me can make fire out of anything." He clenched a fist and it roared into flame, proving his point. He let the flame fade. "I don't know much about the others, but waterbenders need a supply with them wherever they go, because they can't, as far as I know, take it from the air. The earthbenders are only useful with solid rock around. Dust, like your sand from before, would be pretty useless to them. There is a thing called sandbending, and it's a form of earthbending, but named different. The airbenders can control air. It isn't much. I haven't fought an airbender before, but it doesn't sound like air can deal much damage.

"The avatar is the only one who can master all four elements. He trains from the moment he is deemed ready to take on the title of avatar. The one I'm searching for should be over a hundred years old. He had his entire life to train, so I have to be ready." Zuko took a glance at Gaara. He hadn't taken his eyes off his fist since engulfing it in flame. "So, are you going to explain that walking-down-the-tree thing?"

Gaara said hoarsely, "Chakra control."

Zuko gave Gaara a quizzical look before repeating his words, "Chakra control?"

Gaara confirmed, "Chakra control."

"What's that supposed to be?" Zuko asked incredulously.

"Put simply, it's the controlling of the spiritual energy within every person's body, chakra."

"What?"

"You focus your chakra in your feet, and that's it." Zuko muttered something under his breath. Gaara ignored this. He was used to hearing hushed whispers around him.

"Are you happy, now, _Prince_ Zuko?" Gaara had eavesdropped on him as he jumped silently from branch to branch. He had been muttering about how "Prince" Zuko of the Fire Nation let the avatar slip through his fingers.

"Not especially, that was the dumbest thing I ever heard. There is no such thing as chakra. How did you really do it, airbender? Did you force the air to harden underneath you, or perhaps make a wind just strong enough to hold you up?"

"I don't use wind, but lots of other people use air to fight. It is not that uncommon. Temari uses wind to battle, but she's weak."

"What? Who is Temari? The airbenders have died. That's impossible!" Zuko retorted.

"I am surprised you have not yet asked why I followed you and…"

"His name is Iroh, and he's my uncle. So, why were you tailing us?" Gaara's already hard expression became even more remorseless at the word "uncle." That is, if that was possible.

"I don't understand her full reasoning, but I have been sent here by an outside force to accompany the Banished Prince of the Fire Nation on his quest, whatever it may be. I now know that you pursue the one you call "avatar," and must obey her wishes. I must mind her every need. I will search for this avatar." Zuko stood there dumbfounded. Here was this stranger that had been following him and his uncle while searching for the avatar. He claimed not to know anything about bending, despite being a sandbender himself. He could do the impossible, like walking up a tree with his back horizontal to the ground. He denied knowing a thing about airbenders while knowing someone named Temari that fought with air. Now this strange newcomer wanted to help him search for the avatar, mere hours after proposing his death.

"Who sent you?" Zuko finally asked.

"I think she sent me, but she will not tell me directly why I am here or give me an exact identity of the one who ordered me here," Gaara said.

"Is "she" Azula? Did she send you here to sabotage me?"

"She is Mother." Gaara stated quite calmly. Zuko, however, wasn't as soothed. His sister was his…

"Azula is _who_?"

"I know no Azula, but my mother is here with me, always watching to make sure I do as I'm told." Gaara's growling voice still bothered Zuko. He viewed him as a short, creepy, red-headed sandbender that lost his memory or something. "She also wishes you were less important so that she could taste your royal firebending blood, but she tells me that she will get her fill on the Fire Lord." Yes, this "Gaara" person was _very_ creepy to Zuko. What sane human would say that to someone? You can't just waltz into the Fire Lord's chambers and take his blood. You'd have to get past guards, traps and, not to mention, Azula.

"You're weird, but I could use someone a bit more powerful. A sandbender like you could be useful when fighting the avatar. Let's go." Zuko smirked and marched of with Gaara following, jumping through the trees above. Zuko told himself mentally to take some "chakra control" lessons from the strange boy. The airbender wouldn't be the only one who could jump to high heights and run up trees and walls at farfetched angles.

Then, he remembered to ask something, "I should call you…" he shouted up to the sandbender.

"I am Sabaku no Gaara."

"Right, then, Sabaku, we'll head for my ship, where you can –"

"My name is _Gaara_," he interrupted, landing next to him. Zuko flinched a bit, not expecting the boy to jump down from the branches in front of him. He stepped back and mentally shook away his surprise. He then proceeded to walk towards his vessel.

Zuko thought it strange that not only did the sandbender have three names, but also used his last for recognition. "Fine, _Gaara_, once we're at the ship we'll get a room ready for your stay. Then, the day after, we can continue looking for the avatar."

"I don't need a room to sleep in. I can stay up to keep watch," Gaara said.

Zuko gave him a strange look. What did he need to stay up for? There were guards to keep watch over the ship, his uncle and him. "We'll have one ready for whenever you do sleep. Even if you keep watch this night, you'll have to rest sometime." Gaara paused one moment before responding.

"You would never want me to sleep, and you should hope never to see me sleep. I don't need a room, because I do not sleep." Zuko didn't understand that. You couldn't live without any rest at all. "Don't think that I will need a place to recuperate, either. You saw earlier that I cannot be harmed." Zuko remembered that. He tried punching, kicking and burning him, but his sand wouldn't let him pass a single hit.


	2. Katara 1

Somewhere in the world, a blonde screamed.

"Why- What the- How the heck- Where am I?" the boy asked himself frantically. He glanced around; it was all ice. There had to be someone out here to help him, tell him directions or something! He wandered about the frozen wasteland; not fretting like a normal person would, rather enjoying the search, making it a hunt for another human. He heard water a short distance away and ran towards it. Water meant people, right? He saw a ship a short distance off. Jumping with joy at the sight of civilization, he rushed to the giant boat, only to discover that it was abandoned.

"Aw man, now what'll I do?" Naruto sighed. "I might as well look for a village near here." Holding his hand even with his forehead protector, he skimmed the white land in search of some sign of civilization. Luckily for him, he just noticed a place not far off from the old ship that has walls of ice. They were definitely manmade. He dashed off towards the place where he hoped had people, people with maps. Snow whipped at his face as he ran.

In less than a minute, he was at the make-shift entrance of the Southern Water Tribe. "Hello!" he shouted, his yell echoing across the ice. "Is there anyone here?"

A few heads, old and young, popped out of the animal hide tents. Their eyes widened at the stranger. A small crowd of fewer than thirty people gradually formed around the blonde boy, as the inhabitants gathered, a few at a time. Snow crunched as folks shuffled their feet, and whispers were passed quite noticeably.

Suddenly, out of the blue clothed group, a young man came screaming, and a spear was clenched in his gloved hands. The weapon was easily dodged by ducking, and a light blue sandaled foot swung out to trip the clumsy warrior. A small whine was muttered as the teen fell.

"Your guys' ninja suck here. How bad a fighter are you?" the boy asked, now standing at his full short height. The older boy stood up, rubbing his head and spitting snow from his mouth.

"Are you from the Fire Nation?" Sokka demanded, ignoring the fact that he just got defeated by a kid not to his shoulder in less than five seconds.

"I'm from the Land of Fire, if that's what you mean, but I guess it could be considered the Fire Nation if you think of it as one of the five great shinobi nations. Technically, it isn't the Fire Nation. It's either the Fire Country or Land of Fire. I just came here to see if anyone had a map or something, maybe tell me how far Konoha is from here. I mean, one night I go to bed like usual, then "poof" here I am in the middle of the Land of Snow, if that's where I am. Maybe this is a part of the Earth Country; it's cold up there, isn't it? Yeah, because Iwa is on the same continent as Konoha and it makes _way _more sense that I would be on the same continent…but if I was teleported, then it wouldn't really matter. This is confusing…can someone just tell me where I am?" The adolescent didn't understand half of what Naruto just, partially because of his speed talking, partially because he didn't think those places existed.

"What are you talking about? You're crazy, making up weird places like that." The brown-haired boy pointed down at Naruto.

"I'm not making them up! I studied the stupid maps at the academy, so I know they exist. I just wanna know where I am, and then I'll leave. I have to find some way back; otherwise I'll be stuck as a genin forever! It was probably Sasuke that did this. He probably doesn't want me to compete, because he knows I would kick his butt. Yeah, because I knows he could beat that sand guy, and I can wipe the floor with that Hyuuga any day, so he didn't want me to fight him…but then again, he told me he wanted to fight me, so maybe it wasn't him. The Hyuuga's got a bunch of grownups with him, and they think he's a prodigy, so I bet they wanted me out of the picture, so that Hyuuga could look good. Yeah, I bet–"

"Do you always talk this much?" Sokka interrupted.

"Yep, all the time, and I–"

"Don't talk so much. It gets on people's nerves." Naruto pouted. "In less than ten words, answer this. Who are you?" he asked, pointing at Naruto. Naruto counted on his fingers.

"I can't say everything I am in less than ten words," he said innocently.

"Just say your name."

"I'm–"

"Why is the first time a new person comes to our tribe at a rare time when I'm gone?" Naruto turned around to see a girl dressed in the same blue as the rest of the tribe. Her hood was pulled up, but a small bit of silky brown hair was seen just around the edges of white fur on the hood. Though, Naruto didn't notice that; he was looking at her big blue eyes, sparkling like clear, blue water. That and she had flawlessly tanned skin, the color of caramel.

Naruto thought she was as pretty as Sakura! "Hi, what's you're name?" Naruto asked, not at all nervous.

"Ka–"

"She isn't your concern. I'm your opponent," Sokka said stubbornly.

"I already beat you, though."

"You were just lucky! The ice was slippery and–"

"I totally beat you! Want me to do it again?"

"I just tripped!"

"_I_ tripped you! Didn't you notice how my leg pushed yours out from under you? That's what _tripping_ is!"

"Think whatever you want…rematch!" Sokka yelled.

"Whatever blow you deal to me will be returned ten times worse. Come at me." Sokka started running with his spear in hand; at the same moment, Naruto cried, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Nine identical Naruto's encircled Sokka.

"What just- how did- You're weirder than Katara!" Naruto didn't even notice the looks of both wonder and fear running through the miniature clan.

"Hmm, do you mean katana? Yeah, I always thought swords were a bit weird too. They seem like they'd just be extra weight to carry. I wonder why all sorts of swords even have different names, and knives. Don't all of the blades pretty much do the same thing, cut? The way they all got different titles and stuff is–"

"What did you do?" Only now did the blondes finally look at the boy in the center of them, rather than at themselves. He had humungous eyes, and his jaw dropped further than Naruto thought possible.

"What's wrong with your face?"

"What did you do?" he repeated.

"Huh, oh, just some ninjutsu."

"What's ninjutsu?" asked the girl behind the original, though all ten of them looked up at her.

"What do you mean "What's ninjutsu?" That's, like, the most important part of being a ninja. We all use ninjutsu, well, no wait…that Fuzzybrows guy only uses taijutsu, but he's an exception. Everyone else has at least some use of ninjutsu. I mean, it's not like everyone can just go about being ninja without the skill of at least _one_ ninjutsu. In order to graduate from the academy you have to make a copy of yourself, and that's ninjutsu. There's, like, almost no one that depends on taijutsu or genjutsu alone, so ninjutsu is way, way important! How come you don't know what it is? I thought even non-ninja knew what it was called. I mean, it's so obvious! Everyone must hear us practicing!" said a hyper Naruto.

"What _is_ ninjutsu, though?" Katara asked.

"It's not that easy to explain, because it does a lot of different stuff. It'll make more sense if I explain taijutsu and genjutsu. See, taijutsu is hand-to-hand combat, with no weapons or anything. Genjutsu is like illusions and stuff. Got it now? No? Then ninjutsu is sort of like everything. You control elements; you make clones; you pretty much do anything that isn't an illusion or unarmed fighting. There's stuff like–"

Sokka butted in, "Just explain in the _shortest_ way possible who you are."

Naruto nodded, and began his explanation. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf, from the Fire Country, and its future Hokage–"

"Okay, yeah, that's good; all I needed to know was your name."

"I'm a soon-to-be chunin, and one of the eight finalists in the chunin exam. I'm the only one that can kick Hyuuga's butt with my awesome new jutsu and am the only genin that knows a Kage level technique–"

"That's enough," Sokka said.

"And I'm the only one that can rival Choji to a ramen eating contest! See, I told you I couldn't name all I was in ten words. There's a lot more, but I don't need to get into that." Naruto didn't want to mention his demon.

"_**And just why the heck don't you? I AM a part of who you are, unfortunately."**_

"_Maybe, I'd just like to keep you secret a while, so they don't all freak out, knowing that I got another spirit inside of me,"_ Naruto retorted cheekily.

"_**You'd be less than you already are without me!"**_

"_Shut-up…"_

"Hey, you okay?" Katara asked, interrupting what ever the Kyuubi might have responded.

Naruto gave his head a little shake to bring him back to reality. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Better than that. I'm awesome! The future Hokage has to be awesome, dattebayo!" Katara still wondered what a Hokage was, and what kind of word was dattebayo?


	3. Azula 1

A boy of twelve stood from a distance, watching a strange place. He saw old-fashioned lanterns lining the dusty streets and unusual red garments on nearly every civilian. Perched high in a tree, and hidden by its foliage, no one suspected a certain ninja was watching the villagers' every move. He studied them all, trying to find a clue as to where he was; what village, what country, what continent. Most of these people had little or no chakra. It seemed there was no flow whatsoever within their bodies…but then a particularly strong source stole his attention. It was coming from a coach. The people inside were royalty to this place. He jumped down, but kept behind bushes.

Just inside, he saw a girl. Since she was royalty, she must have been a princess of some sort. Suddenly, the lady screeched, "Stop! Stop this carriage." Without a second of waiting, she flung herself out of the cart and into the dirty street. People all around began falling to their knees. "You! I know you're there. Show yourself." The boy stood, and walked out from his hiding place.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"Humph, I think it is rude to ask someone's name without first giving your own."

She snorted. "Are you joking? How can you not know who I am? I am Princess Azula of the Fire Nation, daughter of Fire Lord Ozai and I demand your identity, boy."

"Perhaps you have heard of me also. I am Uchiha Sasuke, last of the Uchiha clan," he said haughtily. He had short raven hair that stuck up in the back and wore a slim black suit the shade of his shadowy eyes. White wrappings and a single, long, dark strap were wound around his left forearm, while the right was bare. White bandages wrapped themselves tightly around his shins, weaving down into his black sandals.

"Can't say I have," she said glowering. That didn't please Sasuke.

"Then, what do you want?" he demanded. Running too fast for her eyes to follow, he seemed almost to teleport to the edge of a nearby branch. "If it isn't worth my time, I'm leaving."

She snorted that abominable laugh once more. "You aren't going anywhere, unless _I_ say so. I found you, and you are my slave. You work for me, now show me your firebending skills. Do it!" Sasuke thought that this so-called princess was nothing more than that; a "so-called" princess. She must have been some deranged, twisted woman that had had her mind severely injured. Only a stuck-up, ignorant fool would command Sasuke, of all the ninja in the world, to be their slave. However, that last request was . . . doable.

Sasuke smirked from his lofty perch. Playing with the fool, Sasuke mocked, "Yeah, all right, _Mistress_. If you want fire, I'll give you fire. Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" Holding two fingers to his lips, Sasuke blew a great ball of inferno toward the imprudent lady, dressed in that ridiculous red suit. The sight of her childish grin was lost from behind his attack. Sasuke doubted that she, a mere common villager, would live through one of his jutsu, especially from this distance . . . but then the "so-called" princess did something that Sasuke thought was a "so-called" myth, impossibility. She created fire without the use of any hand signs, any jutsu.

Sapphire flames ate away his jutsu. His attack was merely absorbed into its own substance. When the blaze dimmed, he saw her wicked smile. Mad, ludicrous, such words were petty tries for a true description of what lay there. Such an appearance, twisted by desires most wouldn't understand, reminded him of one individual. One creature that had taken human form, only to prey upon those that matched his own disguise.

"Good, good. Show me more of your strength, slave. Prove you are at least stronger than my useless baby brother, and I will have reason to keep you alive." Sasuke had little patience to begin with; becoming stuck in this strange world shortened it, and the lady completely severed the possibility of gaining any patience in the least, particularly after mentioning the phrase "useless baby brother." This battle was trying. Well, if he couldn't use fire, then why not just go for a clean, simple kill? There was no law, as far as Sasuke was concerned, that an enemy's death had to be something prominent to all future ninja.

He then, deciding not to be intricate, produced a Fuma Shuriken, from where, Azula hadn't a clue. It was a strange, four-bladed weapon, opening like a small windmill. He slowly brought the blades back, twisting his shoulders and spine, then, in a second, threw the shuriken, and called, "Kage Shuriken no Jutsu!" Azula dodged the first, while the second was left unnoticed. The ring of metal against metal struck the night air. Sasuke could feel anger radiating off of Azula.

"What are you doing here? This is my fight!" she screamed.

"Hmm . . ." The woman, obviously older than Sasuke, reminded him slightly of Tenten, the way she had those two little buns on the sides of her head. True, Tenten had shorter, lighter hair, but there was definitely something slight. She held four small, reddish, knives in her outstretched arm. His Fuma Shuriken had gone off and sliced through a few tree limbs.

Great, mused an irritated Sasuke. Now there are two delirious girls to deal with.

"And who's the kid?" Sasuke wanted so strongly to leave the strangers to their unusual dreams, but he also refused to run from a fight, especially a fight with a girl.

"Hey, wanna be friends?" Sasuke would have flinched, had he not been trained so well. He looked to his left to see a _third_ girl with a long brown braid. She was smiling at him. She was staring and smiling at him, like a statue. Would the madness not cease?

"What . . . ?"

"Don't mind Azula. She can be like that." Sasuke could only blink. Not only did he not sense her, but she was inches from him, crouched on the same branch. Inches! His mouth was millimeters open, as he thought that those like the fire princess couldn't control their chakra well enough to climb the trees, or jump to his height. "So, wanna be friends?"

"What are you doing here?" shrieked Azula once more.

The one that seemed like Tenten stood as still as the red-headed Gaara always did, not letting her arm move down a fraction of an inch. "There's nothing exciting to do at the palace," she finally droned, allowing her head to turn slightly. "A fight will be less boring." Sasuke, not caring to stay any longer, not caring that he was retreating from a fight, stood straight.

"I told you. If you've nothing worth my time, I'm leaving. Usuratonkachi." With that, he leapt through the waiting trees. If he wanted to find Konoha, he could do it without wasting time on those people.

Azula demanded, "Ty Lee, follow him. He can help me with Zuko."

"Um, right. Okay." She bounded through the trees after her new friend.


	4. Adoption

Sorry, but, this is going up for adoption.

~My first reason for putting this up for adoption is because I can't work with Toph. I mean, maybe there's some really obvious solution, but I have a knack of overlooking such conclusions.

~Two, I've got more than just this site, and I think I've pretty much failed it. I could hardly keep up with Black Chrysanthemum, let alone this. But, I've got that redone, er, actually, _undone_, because I'm going way, way back to its very first form. And that's about six versions.

~Three...do any other authors out there hear the characters you write about talk as you write? Well, Toph hates me, doesn't want me to touch her character, and Naruto's got all this rambling going on, so that I can hardly hear Gaara, or Sasuke, who, by the way, I am not _trying_ to underestimate, but I haven't had a lot of practice, and so try to talk less about him, in order to not _destroy_ that section of the story with his OOCness.

~Four, I realize that, unlike my other stories, here and other places, I didn't plan it out for months. I just wrote two chapters and posted. In my case, NOT A GOOD IDEA. I ended up with nothing else to write.

~Five, by now I've lost all connections with the part of my mind that remembers anything about the Avatar: Last Airbender characters' personalities, and that would just make this worse, unless I went and watched about ten hours of Avatar: Last Airbender, which I don't have time to do, what with homework, auditons and concerts around every corner.

~Host

P.S. If anyone takes this very short beginning, and makes their own, can you tell me who you are, so I can see where it goes?


	5. Adopted

Attention! HorrorOpheliac had officially adopted Scorched Sand. If you want to read it as it continues, look for it under her account.

~Host


	6. Toph 1

So... I just rediscovered this while trying to write down every title I ever wrote for... because my computer crashed and there is not a scrap left of anything... not a single word of a freakin' twenty seven stories exists on there, and... I'm just gonna put this here.

"Scorched Sand" sorta belongs to HorrorOpheliac, now, so I dunno if it's 'illegal' for me to post new chapters, or something... If it is, I guess this has to come down, but otherwise... Enjoy me being bored out of my mind without my other fics. I think Fei is going to murder me in my sleep for not writing him and Gaara... Anyway, this was written on the site, since Word Processor isn't much of an option, so there will no doubt be errors. A lot of errors.

~xXx~

Toph strolled boredly around the confinement of her parents' gardens. As she walked, she watched the guards' patterns, wondering if she could make an escape. But suddenly, on a tree near her, she felt a weight too heavy to be any animal crash into a trembling branch, though no sound met her ears. Stomping a foot on the ground, she waited to see what this thing was doing.

"You!" she whispered, nearing the tree. "What are you doing here?"

Neji didn't have to look back to see the girl, nor did he care to. His Byakugan could see everything, after all. "Hn. Such a hopeless, blind, failure. My fate lies a far distance from weaklings, as yourself." Neji leapt down and landed inches from Toph.

She frowned. "I can see better than you can, I bet. I have to ask, Princess... How long do you spend on your hair?" She knew it was long if even _she_ could feel it's length.

Neji growled. Princess? The brat dared to name him so low! "I'll be leaving, now, failure."

"Guard the Lady Bei Fong!"

Neji didn't budge at the calls. "Oh, how excellent. More failures to add to the lot." He sighed and turned on a stiff heel, holding out in the position most common. "Rotation..." he whispered, waiting for the guards to fall from their perch. The moment the first stone was hailed, he spun, leaking chakra from every point. "Hakkeshō Kaiten!" Stones were crushed, and their remains flung in every direction. Still, the assault continued until Neji could no longer hold his jutsu. "Is this all you have?" he called out, as the rocks stopped falling. "You are all so weak. It is my fate to be unbeaten." Neji sniffed. "I see everything, with these eyes. Those little pebbles will never harm me."

Toph neared him, being sure to act shy for the guards. "Who is that?" she asked, with a pout. "I hear a fight, but we Bei Fong shouldn't be so rude to a stange guest, right, Guards?"

Neji sneered. Where did the toughy go? She definitely wasn't this little weakling... She was acting like Hinata, his worthless cousin. Hmph. He didn't feel up to just leaving in this state, so allowed himself to be taken in, where two of a supposedly important family invited him to show off a few skills. If he could teach a little something to the other Earthbending students and Toph, he could stay a bit longer, and earn some extra knowledge of the secret Earthbending techniques.

~xXx~

Troublesome. That's all he could think. Man, where the hell was this place? Bah, life was such a bother, and now it had become even worse. He sighed, letting his gaze drift around the new area. "Hey, you."

The girl turned to the sound, although she already knew he was there. "What you want, Spiny?"

Shikamaru graoned. So, she was one of _those_ people. The overly troublesome, sarcastic kind. He wouldn't waste his time here, if he didn't know that getting lost was more an irk than just asking about a map. "Where is this? I wanna go home."

"And I should help you, because..."

"Fine, I'll get one somewhere else." Shikamaru made to leave, but turned around, only to meet the buff chest of an Earthbender. Stepping back, and sizing up the enemy, he rolled his eyes. "Can this place get any more troublesome? I don't wanna fight, or nuthin', so let me find decent directions somewhere else." He walked sideways, but the guard just blocked.

"You will stay. Let the family Bei Fong Head decide your fate."

Shikamaru sniffed. Whatever. Sooner his 'fate' got decided, sooner he could be left alone and escape.

~xXx~

"Ahhh!" The girl tripped and nearly fell backward over a balcony, letting out a small scream. This... this was not her home! This was not where she was supposed to be! Where? Where is it? Who put me here? Oh, she felt like fainting.

"Oof!" Toph graoned under the body above her. "Get off, lug!" She pulled herself out from under the person, and knelt down. "What?" Great. Just excellent. Some weird stranger girl fell on her, and she wasn't waking up. "Oi!" she whipped, quietly, so as not to alert the guards. "What are you doing here? Get up!" Toph could feel the short tremors the girl gave every few seconds.

Hinata slowly pulled out from her state, blinking into the face of a snappy child. "I... um..."

"Finally! Who are you, Twitch? Why are you in my garden? Huh?"

"Um... I, er... I..."

"Oi! Wake up! I didn't say you could faint again! Twitch!"

~xXx~


End file.
